Real Mailing Address September 26, 2006
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A note on Turkish bureaucracy: don’t look at your lease agreement if you want to know your real address. My real mailing address is actually No. 12/2, not No. 16/2. I wonder what complications that could give rise to… 
Termessos September 25, 2006
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This weekend a group of us traveled to Antalya, a resort town popular with German tourists on the Turkish Mediterranean. It was expensive, the weather was gloomy, and we were ripped off every time we turned around, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Here’s why…
34 km inland from Antalya are the remains of the ancient city Termessos. A Pisidian people, the Termessians lived in this impregnable fortress city high in the Taurus Mountains for centuries. So fiercely did they defend their city that Alexander the Great could only bypass Termessos in 333 BC. The Romans accepted the city as an independent ally, rather than a subject city in 70 BC. Termessos would maintain its independence irregularly until the 5th century AD, when an earthquake crushed the aqueduct system, cutting off water to the city. Thereafter Termessos declined and was eventually abandoned, though there are no records indicating when, precisely, it was deserted.
There have been no archaeological excavations at Termessos, and even our own exploration uncovered numerous holes around the ruins revealing curious underground chambers. One can only wonder at what could really be found here…
It is arguably one of the best-sited ancient cities in Turkey, and made our trip entirely worthwhile. Nothing else is worth mentioning Kas and I, both history majors, scoured the ruins like children in a candy shop. Below are a few of the resulting photos.
PS. Yahoo Photos isn’t working for me right now, but I’ll do my best to get the rest of the photos up somehow.
Kocatepe September 19, 2006
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Kocatepe (pronounced Kojatepe) Mosque is enormous. I took a few moments last night to take some photos of it in the darkness. None of them turned out well, unfortunately, but here is one that did.
Mailing Address September 17, 2006
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Our flat comes equipped with fancy mailboxes, so if anyone wants this information, our mailing address is:
Bardacık Sokak No: 12/2 Kavaklıdere, Ankara, Turkey
There should be some sort of postal or zip code in there, but I haven’t found one. I’ll update it if there is.
We slept in the flat last night and I’m fairly certain I heard no fewer than four gun shots followed by the sirens of an emergency vehicle. Regardless, we are in one of the safest part of the city, as most foreign embassies are located in our neighborhood. The thing you really have to watch out for is the traffic. It is inevitable that one day I will be riding on a dolmuş (small bus) when it gets hit, especially since I have to ride one every day to get to campus. Turkey is fun
Appartment Shopping September 16, 2006
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The depth of the Turkish bureaucracy makes one really appreciate the simplicity of home. Searching for a flat has been a sometimes stressful, and always educational, experience. There are so many seemingly unnecessary hoops to jump through. The adventure is also virtually impossible without the help of someone who speaks Turkish. Three of us, Mike (Netherlands), Ali (USA), and myself have been searching non-stop for a flat over the last several days and were running into dead ends until yesterday evening, when we settled on a flat near the Kocatepe Camii, one of the largest mosques in the world and supposedly the biggest in the Middle East (the Blue Mosque is on the European side of İstanbul, so it doesn’t count). The call to prayer will likely wake me up every morning around 6 am, but that’s alright.
I am learning the language quickly, but not quickly enough to keep up with Ali (a.k.a. Kas), who speaks Persian and Azeri Turkish. It is a lot easier for him to pick up the language than for me, so I have a goal to aim for at least.
I register for classes on Tuesday and then school begins on Thursday, so we have a few days off for which we don’t have any plans. Next weekend, however, we are looking to get out of Ankara, so I hope to have something to report then.
LATER: Attached is a thumbnail of the view from our sidewalk, with Kocatepe in the background.
First Impressions September 9, 2006
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I finally have Internet access here, but only enough time to check my email and not much else. Turkey, and Ankara, is great. The weather is really warm, but dry, so it’s just like home. Apparently winter will set in within a month, so that will be just like home too The ODTÜ (METU) campus is absolutely enormous. With some 4000 hectares (I kid you not), it takes up nearly half of the city center, but most of the university buildings are concentrated in one area. I’m having a great time so far. All the international students are great and the hosts are life savers. I don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll have to post again soon with more details.
